April 22: Maxwell Fires Kings to Victory with Another Huge Knock

Once again Glenn Maxwell was the star of the show for Kings XI Punjab as he fired them to a third win from three games against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Sharjah on Tuesday.

The victory puts them at the top of the IPL table and their batting performances so far have been formidable.

The Australian smashed 95 from 43 balls to add to his 89 against Rajasthan and 95 against Chennai which have marked him out as the main man in this tournament so far.

Punjab were put into bat after Hyderabad won the toss and Cheteshwar Pujara and Virender Sehwag got Kings off to a good start with the first wicket falling in the seventh over with 51 runs on the board.

In came Maxwell and he repeated the swashbuckling form he has shown so far in this tournament as he crashed five fours and nine maximums in a quite breathtaking performance.

Hyderabad's bowling lineup, including Dale Steyn and Amit Mishra, could not prevent Kings XI Punjab setting a daunting target of 194 for victory.

And indeed it proved too much for the Hyderabad outfit. Lokesh Rahul top-scored with 27 as they were skittled out for 121 off 19.2 overs, never looking like chasing the target down.

Lakshmipathy Balaji took 4-13 from his four overs while Mitchell Johnson finished with 2-26 as Kings XI Punjab continued their impressive start to the tournament and condemned Hyderabad to the bottom of the league after two losses from two games.

April 21: Raina Heroics Destroy the Daredevils

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Chennai Super Kings won this match at a canter.Gallo Images/Getty Images

After setting a huge total and still losing last time out, Kings’ MS Dhoni decided to bat after winning the toss, and a total of 177 despite a slow start—including a superb innings from Suresh Raina—would have pleased the captain.

Still without captain Kevin Pietersen, the Daredevils lacked any punch whatsoever and never looked likely to trouble the scoreboard.

Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith took to the crease to open proceedings, looking to replicate their opening-wicket partnership of 123 from the last match against Kings XI Punjab.

It certainly appeared to be a wicket to suit the batsmen as both were quickly into their stride, despite some good line and length from JP Duminy and Shahbaz Nadeem in the opening couple of overs.

McCullum’s confidence appeared to get the better of him, however, and in the third over of the day a dropped catch from Duminy was quickly followed by McCullum's wicket as he edged to Wayne Parnell.

Smith continued to pick up the odd single here and there as he looked to outwit Jaydev Unadkat, the latter producing a fine spell of bowling.

A boundary per over at best after 10 overs of play, and with just 53 runs on the board, meant that the run rate needed to be upped significantly.

Sensing the urgency, the Super Kings responded with some big hits. A six and three further boundaries followed from Suresh Raina inside two overs; however, Smith’s own exuberance saw him fall to a beautiful delivery from Nadeem.

Raina soon brought up his 50 but an attempt at going for the big shot saw him removed just a few balls later, Murali Vijay taking the catch.

Faf Du Plessis and captain Dhoni pushed on the score nicely, again peppering the innings with boundaries. The former was yet another victim of playing the crowd-pleaser as his six was followed by a skied effort straight into the grateful arms of Vijay.

Dhoni’s wicket in the 18th over was quickly followed by Ravindra Jadeja’s as the Daredevils put one last squeeze on proceedings.

There was still time for Ravichandran Ashwin to be run out on the penultimate ball, and a final-ball boundary to set a target of 178 to win.

Things couldn’t have got off to a worse start for the Daredevils, just eight runs posted before Ishwar Pandey had Mayank Agarwal removed with the first ball of the third over.

The theme continued throughout a hugely disappointing innings, no sooner had the batsmen began to settle than one was removed.

Mohit Sharma was next to get amongst the wickets, having Murali Vijay removed via a superb catch from Du Plessis as the batsman attempted the big shot but only succeeded in getting underneath the ball.

It was a new over, another wicket, Du Plessis again on the end of another skied shot, this time from Manoj Tiwary.

At this point, the Daredevils were looking at a hugely embarrassing total, rocking as they were at 17 for 3.

JP Duminy and Dinesh Karthik finally managed to settle the innings down and began to pick up quick singles and the odd boundary. Any thoughts of a long tenancy at the wicket were short-lived, however, as Dwayne Smith had Duminy trapped LBW.

Karthik continued to work hard for his side, but it was a losing battle. Ross Taylor was out just one ball after a beautiful four from the bowling of Ben Hilfenhaus, Dhoni taking the catch.

After 11 overs, a paltry total of 63/5 looked ominous, and when Karthik was bowled for 21 in the 12th over, the Daredevils' hopes all but disappeared.

Within three overs the tail had been accounted for, a hugely embarrassing 84 the final total.

Kings XI Punjab continued their strong start to the IPL season after producing another remarkable chase to land a seven-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals in Sharjah.

Rajasthan, the 2008 champions, eased to victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their season opener, but faced a different animal in Punjab on Sunday.

Kings won the toss and opted to field first, and they came up against an inspired Rajasthan order, posting a total of 191/5 from their 20 overs.

Captain Shane Watson was in particularly impressive form at the crease—slugging his way to a 50 in double-quick time.

From just 28 balls, the Australian reached his half-century with three sixes and five fours, but was dismissed by Akshar Patel just one ball later.

Sanju Samson also reached his half-century, firing his way to 52 in a respectable team innings, but their 191 haul wasn’t enough against the expert chasers, Kings.

Sanjay Bangar’s side reached 206 to dispose of Chennai Super Kings in their opening match, and produced a similarly strong batting display to reach other high haul.

Glenn Maxwell was the star of the show for Punjab, chalking up 89 runs from just 45 balls as he hit boundary after boundary. The 25-year-old slugged his way to eight fours and six sixes during his impressive innings, inspiring the Punjab order to cross the line.

Maxwell hit a 95 during Punjab’s season opener against Chennai Super Kings, and picked up where he left off with some dynamic batting.

Having signed from Mumbai Indians at the start of the season after a topsy-turvy spell with the 2013 champions, Maxwell says that being a regular in his new side is a good feeling—per ESPN cricinfo:

It always feels nice when you know that you are going to be a regular in the playing eleven, something which was not possible at a star-studded Mumbai outfit. Here I feel more relaxed and don't feel the same pressure of expectations. The start has been good and hopefully we will only get better from here.

He certainly appeared relaxed with the bat in Sharjah, but fell to Kane Richardson’s delivery with his side needing 66 to win; however, David Miller filled the boots of the Aussie more than capably.

The South African scored the winning runs in another remarkable display, making a beautifully crafted 51 from 19 balls with six sixes.

Punjab now sit joint top of the IPL table, and need to continue their form if they’re to make the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

Sunrisers Hyderabad take on Kings in their next match on Tuesday, where they’ll need to make sure Bangar’s Kings bat first, because no chase is too much for the men from Punjab.

Mumbai Indians’ miserable start to the campaign continued in Dubai, as Royal Challengers Bangalore romped to a seven-wicket victory at the Dubai International Stadium.

Fresh from an opening-day defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai never got going after Bangalore had opted to field first, as they did in their victory over the Delhi Daredevils in their season opener.

The defending champions had little joy against the RCB bowlers, who limited them to 115/9 after completing their 20 overs.

Mitchell Starc, Varun Aaron and Yuzvendra Chahal took two wickets apiece, with Ambati Rayudu the highest scorer for the Indians with just 35.

RCB, however, had no such problems at the crease, breezing to victory with all of 15 balls remaining.

Parthiv Patel stole the show by chalking up 57 runs with an strike rate of 126.66, with AB de Villiers adding 45 more from 48 balls.

Zaheer Khan dismissed both Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh for ducks, but it wasn’tenough to stop RCB from successfully completing their chase.

Mumbai Indians need to find a dramatic improvement if they’re to stand any chance of recording a creditable IPL title defence, particularly with the bat—managing a season-high of just 122 runs so far.

Delhi Daredevils produced a stellar performance to put their opening defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore behind them with victory over Kolkata Knight Riders.

Batting first, the 2012 Indian Premier League champions, Kolkata, posted a solid 166/5 despite their opening partnership of Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir both being dismissed for ducks.

Kallis was the star of the show in Kolkata’s demolition of Mumbai Indians in the season opener, posting a 72, but fell to Mohammed Shami’s delivery after just one ball.

Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa had more joy at the crease, though, clocking up 48 and 55 runs respectively as they coped with everything that the Delhi bowlers could throw at them.

Nathan Coulter-Nile had the best figures for Delhi with the ball, reaching a 2-for-27 haul with 12 dot balls, but the team’s real brilliance came with the bat.

The Daredevils had a reasonable tasking in chasing down Kolkata’s 166 against a talented group of bowlers on their ideal surface, but they did so brilliantly with just three balls to spare in Dubai.

Scoring 49 runs in the powerplay, Delhi have some brilliant individual performances to thank for their dramatic victory.

Dinesh Karthik made a half-century by chalking up 56 runs from 40 balls, but it was JP Duminy that stole the headlines with 52 runs of his own.

As Delhi edged closer to victory, Jimmy Neesham was dismissed by Piyush Chawlain the second ball of the final over to set up a tense finale; but Duminy’s sensational six took Delhi to the 167 total and brought up the half-century.

The South African was a rare shining light for Delhi in their opening match against RCB, sitting on 67 as the final wicket fell, and continued where he left off with another superb display of batting.

With captain Kevin Pietersen still yet the feature for Delhi, the future is looking bright for Gary Kirsten’s franchise.

Next up is Chennai Super Kings in Abu Dhabi, where Duminy could once again prove to be the integral cog in Delhi’s IPL title-chasing machine.

April 18: Kings Cruise to 206 While Royals Steal It in Final over

Friday's opening match saw Punjab easily dispatch of the Super Kings in both teams' 2014 Indian Premier League season opener.

Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum each recorded a half century with 66 and 67 runs respectively, as Chennai set an impressive target of 205 and looked set to start the 2014 IPL with a victory. Cheteshwar Pujara and Virender Sehwag were both dismissed relatively quickly, as the chase seemed to be impossible for the Kings.

But Glenn Maxwell would hit an incredible 95 in 43 balls, including 15 fours, and David Miller added 54 more runs not out to complete an unexpected and epic chase as fans were treated to a barrage of runs. With seven balls remaining, it was George Bailey who'd score the final runs needed off Rohit Sharma.

Chennai's Rishi Dahwan finished with an economy of 7.00 in three overs while surrendering 21 runs, as he was the best (or least embarrassing) performer in a match whose highlights could be used in clinics on how not to bowl.

James Faulkner came up huge when his team needed him the most, as he scored back-to-back fours to give the Royals the win over Hyderabad in the very last over.

Sunrisers had set a very manageable target of 133, with Shikhar Dhawan (38 runs in 34 balls) and David Warner (32 runs in 35 balls) doing most of the damage Dhawal Kulkarni (two wickets and 23 runs) and Kane Richardson (two wickets and 25 runs) led a group of bowlers that did an excellent job controlling the pace of the match.

Hyderabad's last four batsmen would only combine for 20 runs, as the target of 133 looked to be anything but daunting for Rajasthan.

The Sunrisers put together an excellent performance bowling however, as all but two of the Royals' batsmen would score double-digit runs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept his economy at 6.00 and only allowed 21 runs while Dale Steyn caught two wickets in four overs, as did Amit Mishra.

Ajinkya Rahane and Stuart Binny did score in double-digits however, and their excellent output of 59 runs on 53 balls and 48 runs on 32 not out respectively would keep their team in the match. Rahane's six total sixes would also play a vital contribution, setting up Faulkner with a chance to win it late.

Incredibly enough, the Australian all-rounder did just that, scoring fours on both the balls he would face to give his team the win with just three balls remaining.

The Indians were limited to 122/7, Rayudu the high scorer with 48 runs. Five of the Indians' order were limited to a single-figure innings, and they’ll have to improve on those scores if they’re to enjoy a creditable title defence.